Railway journal box lubricator



y 1962 P. J. LARSEN 3,033,618

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX LUBRICATOR Filed Oct. 17, 1960 United States Patent 3,033,618 RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX LUBRICATOR Peter J. Larsen, Erie, Pa., assignor to Lord Manufacturing Company, Erie, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 63,090 4 Claims. (Cl. 30887) This invention is a railway journal box lu bn'cator in a preferred form of which the oil is confined in a body of open pore polyurethane sponge which serves both as an oil reservoir and as a spring for maintaining pressure contact between a wick and the journal. Polyurethane sponge is different 'froin 'natural sponge and other presently known synthetic sponges in that it does not absorb or soak up oil and its modulus of elasticity is unaffected by the presence or absence of oil. Natural sponge soaks up oil and becomes limp. Neoprene sponge swells. Cellulose and vinyl sponge dry out and harden. The sponge is coated with an oil resistant skin which forms an oil retaining envelope.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a journal box and FIG. 2 is a transverse section through the journal box.

In the drawing, the common parts are readily identified, 1 being the journal box, 2 the journal, 3 the journal bearing, 4 the wedge and 5 the access cover held closed by a leaf spring 6. These parts are or may be of common construction.

Between the lower side of the journal and the journal box is a body 7 of open pore polyurethane sponge having painted on its outer surface an oil impervious skin or coating 8, of any suitable material such as acrylo, acrylo nitrile, polysulfide, silicone, or fluoro elastomers. skin forms an oil retaining envelope and encloses the entire outer surface of the body except for a wick cavity 9 in the upper surface of the body below the journal which receives the lower end of a felt wick 10 having an integral pad 11, the upper end of which bears against the under side of the journal. The wick 10 is conveniently made of two sheets 12. of felt stitched together by seam 13. The length and thickness of the felt is such that the lower end 14 fits snugly in the cavity 9 so that oil cannot flow out of the cavity even when the car is inverted for dumping the contents. At opposite ends of the seam 13, the felt has shoulders 15 projecting beyond the ends of the cavity 9 so that under load the upper surface of the body 7 is dished inward as indicated at 16 in FIG. 1. There is a similar dishing of the upper surface of the body 7 as indicated at 17 in FIG. 2. Oil on the upper surface of the body drains toward the center and flows back into the sponge. The skin 8 may be cut away at 17:: around the cavity to facilitate drainage.

The sponge does not absorb oil. The cells of the sponge act as miniature oil reservoirs from which the oil is free to run out but at a restricted rate. The oil accordingly tends to assume its natural level both in the foam and in the wick cavity as indicated at18, thereby maintaining a level of oil around the lower end 14 of the wick. The wick cavity 9 and chambers 19 on either side of the cavity 9 provide a place where oil can collect in reasonable quantity and be absorbed by the wick as needed.

The body 7 does not act like natural sponge because it does not soak up or absonb oil. From one aspect, the envelope or skin 8 acts as \an'oil container and the foam merely divides the oil into a great many small pools with restrictions between each pool preventing rapid flow.

This is an important advantage in railway cars which must be inverted for dumping. When inverted, the foam so 1, restricts the flow of oil that there is no oil loss during the time required for dumping. Of course, if the railway car remained in an inverted position, in time the lubricant would all drain out.

Patented May 8, 1962 ice plug 21. The oil level may be inspected by removing the plug and oil added if required. The oil flows directly into the cavity 9 and is not impeded by the wick or by the foam. As is apparent from FIG. 2, the wick closes the upper end of the cavity 9 but the. chambers 19 at the lower end of the cavity are open and unobstructed. This unobstructed volume of the cavity holds enough oil so that whenever removal of the inspection plug 21 indicates that the oil level is low enough to require adding oil,

The

this may be done quickly without waiting for the oil to be soaked up by the wick or sponge.

The manufacture is very simple. The foam body 7, together with any desired cored out openings such as the cavity 9 and chambers 19 with the filler tube 20, is easily made in a suitable mold and after molding, may be painted with the oil impervious skin 8.

It will be noted that the upper surface of the pad is dished around the upper end of the wick so that any excess lubricant fed to the journal will be scraped off by the wick and will drain back into the foam either through the upper end of the wick cavity 9 or through other suitable drain openings in the skin. The dished oil collecting upper surface may be preformed into the molded body, or the dished surface may be formed by the pressure exerted on the upper end of the wick as the foam body is compressed between the bottom of the journal box and the under surface of the journal. 7

If the oil impervious skin 8 is omitted, the body 7 prevents splashing of the oil out of the journal box.

The oil impervious skin provides a clean and easily handled construction. Dirt is kept out of the oil. Oil is kept within the skin. The sponge reinforces the skin so that the danger of rupture or puncture is slight, even when the skin is thin. The skin would be advantageous with other oil resistant sponges where it might be necessary to use supplementary spring reinforcement and oil feeding wicks.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a railway car journal box, a device for supplying oil to the journal and journal bearing comprising a body of open cell polyurethane foam between the journal box and the under side of the journal, said body being exteriorly coated with an oil impervious skin or envelope whereby the body serves as a reservoir for holding oil at the desired level in which the cells of the foam impede flow of oil so that oil is not lost during inversion of the car for dumping, and a wick on the upper surface of the body having its upper end contacting the under side of the journal and having portions extending into said body below said oil level within the envelope, said body being of greater thickness than the space between the upper end of the wick and the journal box whereby the body is compressed and exerts a force resiliently holding the upper end of the wick in contact with the journal.

2. The construction of claim 1 in which the body'has in addition a spout-like extension or filler tube between thebox and the outer end of the journal, and the upper end of said extension extending above the oil level, the lower end of the extension depending below said oil level, and means closing the upper end of said extension.

3. In a railway car journal box, a device for supplying oil to the journal and journal bearing comprising a body of open cell oil resistant sponge between the journal box and the under side of the journal, said body being exaosaa teriorly coated with an oil impervious skin or envelope whereby the body serves as a reservoir for holding oil at the desired level in which the cells of the foam impede flow of oil so that oil is not lost during inversion of the car for dumping, and a wick on the upper surface of the body having its upper end contacting the under-side of the journal and having portions extending into said body below said oil level within the envelope, said body being of greater thickness than the space between the upper end of the wick and the journalbox whereby the body is compressed between the Wick and the journal.

4. In a railway car journal box, a device for supplying oil to the journal and journal bearing comprising a body of open cell polyurethane foam between the journal box and the under side of the journal, said body being exteriorly coated; with an oil impervious skin or envelope whereby the body serves as a reservoir for holding oil at the desired level in which the cells of the foam impede flow of oil so that oil is not lost during inversion of the car for dumping, said body having a cavity within the envelope with an enlarged lower part below the oil level and a restricted upper part leading to an opening in the upper surface of the body, a wick fitting in said opening and depending into but occupying only a part of the volume of the lower part of the cavity whereby a substantial part of the volume of the cavity is open and unobstructed, a filler tube sealed to and extending through the envelope, said tube having its upper end accessible for filling and its lower end leading to the unobstructed volume of the cavity, the unobstructed volume of the cavity being sufficient to permit adding oil to the desired level without waiting for oil to be soaked up by the wick or sponge.

Keeler et a1. Dec. 6, 1938 Hamer Oct. 16, 1951 OTHER REFERENCES Foamed Polyurethanes, published in British Plastics, January 1956, pages 5 through 9 and 39 relied upon. 

